drum drum drum she poundson my sleeve, upon my neck ; in my dreams.but we adopt resistance to feelings that hurt us.now I walk through this art gallery blind I can’t see but I think those paintings are of us

His bicycle let out a little yelp as he slowed to a stop,The lady was dressed the same as the night before.He could have cycled on but he had intentions he would not drop,For he had heard stories of such beings from old wives' lore.

It was important for him to address this spectre.Motivated by the advice he had received from his dad.To never succumb to fear if a spirit he should ever encounter,For the fear would consume and eventually drive him mad.

He was brimming with confidence as he spoke,"Hello there again, I see that you are still in a fix".He was determined not to be made again the jokeHe had sworn to not be taken in by the imp's mischief and tricks.

A sweet fragrance lingered in the air,Teasingly inviting him to greedily inhale it all in.A gentle gust blew, caught and played with the strands of her hair...Enamoured by her visage, he secretly gasped as if the air grew thin.

Her face was still partially obscured by her black flowing hair.She turned to him before she gave her reply,"Would you please give me a lift, dear sir...kind and rare...I do not wish to be stranded alone, unsheltered under the moonlit sky".

When I saw herThe first woman with the first wide eyesBright and light and dark and deepWith life and mystery My heart beat like the first hand struck the first drumAnd the first song was sungIn dark caves of ten times ten thousand years ago

When I first breathed that first scent My sight stopped My mind stoppedMy mind was my body and my hands and my gutAnd my legs extending to the ground and the earth and timeAnd it slowed down like an ice age beginningThen it melted into warm fireWhere it burned

The first touch of the first woman Was electrical chemical radioactive blissEvery piece of matter in me wanted to move and dance and shake and fly apartThe spark from the start of her heart beatCrossed through the fibers and Traveled down the pathways of her bodyDown the chemical electric synapsesThrough her arm and jumped across to my handAnd traveled up and started a new beatIt was a faster, and stronger beat And it beatAnd it beat Like the first dance, Shook with the slap and smack of ground and hands and feet

Oh the first woman was all women And then there were other womenAnd they were people Flesh and bloodAnd minds and thoughts And feelings that I could not feelGood and bad and indifferent With hangups and problemsBlemishes and baggageI met women comingWomen going Here and there Now and then For coffee, for beer, One evening or tenI met scientists, nurses bartenders and baristas. Living lives I didn't mindGiving time when it was mineAsking for things I couldn't find

Then I saw YouAll of you In time and space and speed

I caught the scent of youYour fragrance and perfumeAnd the primal musk of youThat fatal lusts allure

I felt you The gravity of your body from across the roomYour electro-magnetic force pullingPressure of the displaced particles pushingAs you walked so slowly towards me

And time stoppedLight and sound and movement were capturedCaptive to your hypnotic swayPrisoner to your power over my perceptionYou moved through the still airAnd it swept aside like a curtain as you passedThe world was quiet

And then it pounded The pressure of it filled the air and everything around itAs you moved closer, Like ride of the Valkyries Rising and crashing in wavesIt rose as you moved towards meYou carried it in your wake And then it was a crescendoA vast overpowering transcendent orchestral cacophony Of immense intense sound and light and energy eruptingCymbals crashed and horns blew and strings snapped under the pressure of the vibrationsBrilliant fireworks exploded in the black sky of your brown eyesAs you stopped a few feet from me

And time was stoppedYou were the first womanYou were all womenYou are The only woman

One of those red ones with black trimmed windows you can imagine rolling through the suburbs on the way to NYC. Not a subway car but a classier vintage with proper rows of cushioned seats and a lever to pull if there is an emergency. There are sparse shrubberies on one side of the tracks and the ocean on the other. Young trees and bushes stroll by. A little wind is pushing off the ocean, massaging the car ever so gently back and forth as we move along. A gentle click-clack is on the tips of our ears.

We got on together. I hadn't known you for very long but the connection was stronger than anything I had ever felt or have since. You practically sat on top of me for the first few miles. Couldn't keep your hands off me, staring in my eyes like you were searching for something lost but you couldn't remember what. The edges of your lips turned upwards permanently as if you were always at the verge of a laugh. You interlaced my fingers with yours and held on like you would be ripped away if your grip loosened for even a second. Slender fingers holding so tightly that they were becoming red.

You were excited to to be riding with me, about where we were going and all the things we would do when we got there. I would see you peer out of the corner of your eye, then lean over to brush your soft cheek against my budding stubble. Kissing and gently biting my lips insatiably. The suns rays coming in at an angle and lighting up your perfect smile and dimple.

I had to remind you we were in public.

I was lost in your blonde curls and the incense of your neck. I had fallen incredibly hard and so fast that my face hurt from smiling and my heart beat with vibrations I had never known. Not even a whiff of anxiety or neurosis. Some of the best memories of my life, as fleeting as they turned out to be.

I yawned and you put your finger in my mouth. I bent over to tie my shoe and you would poke my **** and laugh with your own reflection in the window, like this was the first and best joke of all time. Maybe it was and maybe it is.

The waiter came and informed us that a thing called "the bar car" existed. We both jumped at the idea. I didn't exactly notice at the time, during our excitement, but that's when the train started going faster and everything out the windows began to blur.

The bar car was a wild ride and we took advantage of our lo'cal. All kinds of fine wine, liquors and illicit substances were available. We tried them all. You were beautiful, your laugh infecting everyone around you, I was charming and held a captive audience. It was a dark, loud and glorious blur. We were the life of the party and it chugged on till dawn.

We woke up in our seats, disheveled and discombobulated. It was dark out already. Did we sleep through the entire day? The train was slowing down, maybe approaching a station. The party was amazing but we were certainly paying the price for the black out. You moved over to the seat across from me to have some more space and lay down. I saw myself in the reflection. My hat, charm and smile from the night before had vanished. I must have left them in the bar car the night before. You had changed, beauty uninterrupted but different somehow. I couldn't put my finger on it. Irritated maybe? I invited you to cuddle and battle the hangover together but you ignored me. Like you couldn't hear me or didn't want to. I decided to let you be.

I got up to use the bathroom and thought I would go look for my scattered belongings. Maybe I could find a scrap of leftover dignity while you rested. I inquired to the conductor who directed me to the bartender in the bar car. He hadn't changed a bit, somehow untouched and unaffected by last nights antics that had effected me so dramatically. Same black suspenders and white pressed shirt with impeccably slicked hair. I asked him what happened and if I had an open tab. While slowly polishing a rocks glass he looked up and made eye contact for a split second before looking away. He said: "Oh the bar car takes its toll. In the end we all end up paying one way or another". I still don't know what he meant by that or if he knew. I asked him if he found my hat and he said he would check the camera. We walked in to a small back room, while he was reviewing the tape, over his shoulder I noticed a tragedy.

We were drunk. I was going on to a group of new friends on one side of the bar, they were hanging on my words and I was eagerly explaining whatever nonsense they were drooling over. You were in the corner wearing that red dress I love, with your hair up in a tight bun. A few curls had escaped and brushed your high cheekbones, a thin line of pearls dancing delicately across your perfectly symmetrical collar. You were stunning and inebriated, swaying with each bump and motion of the train. A man wearing my hat put his hand on your side to keep you from swaying over and then he left it there. I took a sharp breath.

It looked like you put your hand on his hand to move it but then it stayed and you both swayed together. As the air left my lungs and the blood drained out of my face I watched your lips touch the strangers. A small piece of my soul slipped away forever. I couldn't watch any further. When I asked the bartender how long it went on he fidgeted for a moment and uncomfortably muttered "quite some time". I never found my hat or the other part of me that left that day.

The train slowed. I walked to the back, as far away from you as I could get, in utter disbelief. How could you? I thought to myself. I mourned the loss of the you as I knew you yesterday, quietly and to myself. A tear escaped my eye and rolled down my now fully formed stubble as I fell in to a random seat in mild shock. There were a few passengers back there so I had to pull together relatively quickly. After gaining some composure I knew it was time to get off. I knew we could never get back to yesterday morning though I would have said or done anything to do so.

The train had stopped. I went back to my seat and you were sleeping. I took my coat and gathered my things. The conductor looked at me confused as to why I would leave something so magnificent, I assume he had no idea what had transpired.

I walked to the rear of the car and slid the door open slower than required. I stepped to the stairs and put one foot down on the step and the other on the ground. I stopped, rooted with my hand on the railing, lingering between two very different paths. I knew that it was time to get off, I knew this was the sensible thing to do, that I couldn't get past this offense regardless of how I had felt earlier the day before. The whistle screamed from the locomotive. The conductor looked at me and shook his head, I'm not sure if he was trying to tell me to stay or go but a decision had to be made.

The train lurched forward and I watched as the station slip away slowly. I sat in between the cars for a while and watched the ocean and birds. With a heavy heart and shoes I walked back to my seat. You were waiting. Crying. You knew. The bartender had told you. You didn't mean do do it, didn't realize what you were doing and thought it was me. He was wearing my hat and the whole world was blurry and dark.

I believed you. Self anguish mixed with alcohol was dripping from your pores. I knew you didn't mean it and were drunk, but could I ever forgive you or trust you again?

I loved you still.

I caught a glimpse of my reflection, a weaker version of myself looked back. As if an invisible chip in my teeth had developed and my shoulders lowered. The charming, confident man from the bar car the day before had been replaced. Something was off but not enough for anyone else to notice, just enough to know a change has happened. The train started to pick up speed again as we distanced ourselves from the station. I second guessed my decision to stay but I didn't look back.

I found the man with my hat and punished him with a few blows in the dark. He knew he ****** up, apologized and took the beating like a man. I never got the hat back.

The engineer announced that we would be going through a tunnel soon and to turn on our lights and keep our hands in the windows.

It would be dark.

We stayed away from the bar car for a while but the draw was irresistible. After a few hours we were there again but you never left my side. Then you did. I was looking for you but you would disappear and not answer me when I called you name. The tunnel went deeper and darker and I didn't know where you were and I suspected you liked it that way. The train began to slow down again as we exited the tunnel.

I finally found you back at our seat, you had moved one row away from me. I asked you to come back, tried to hold your hands but you pulled away with vehemence. When I came back from the bathroom you had moved another row farther. I knew I was losing you. I begged you to return but you told me calmly that it was time for you to get off. At some point in the tunnel you had decided that you didn't want to go anymore . Your mind was made. You were going to catch another train at the next station.

When the train stopped I thought for sure you would reconsider but you didn't. Didn't even give it a thought. You just grabbed your coat and hat with one big bag under your arm. You kissed me on the cheek like a french stranger and were off. Going somewhere else on a different train. Just like that.

I rode the rails for quite some time by myself , many people getting on and getting off, passing me by. Every once in a while I would think I saw you at a station or in a **** though the window of another train. I often thought I could smell you but when I breathed deeper it was always gone. A ghost dancing on the edge of my senses.

A young girl in a headband got on the train. She was listening to headphones and dancing to herself as she bobbed along. She sat down in the seat next to me flashing a smile. She had a wedding ring on and I dismissed her immediately. She didn't move from the seat or stop glancing my way. Eventually she confessed that she wanted to talk. I told her I wasn't interested but she persisted. I hadn't talked to anyone on the train for quite some time and after some more mild persistence, I gave in.

We had a lot in common. We were both riding alone, desperately wanted attention and were thrilled to receive some. After a few laughs she slid her hand in to mine and interlaced her fingers. I left it there. It was warm, comforting and wrong. She was married but I had been riding alone so long it felt good to have some company. She stayed and we talked. She was broken and I had a knack for fixing things. After a few hours of dramatic conversation I fell asleep with her head on my shoulder.

When I woke up the train was flying up the track on the side of a mountain. Trees and rocks were a blur of green and grey. The engineer must be trying to make up for lost time I thought to myself.

The girl was asleep with her head on my lap. I looked down at her hand and the rings were gone. I woke her briefly to ask where they went. She said she didn't need them anymore and had thrown them out the window. She could of sold them, I said, but she said she just wanted them gone so she could be mine and fell back to sleep. All of a sudden I couldn't breath. This train was roaring down the tracks, the once gentle click clack had become a loud hum. Suddenly too loud. This girl in my lap who had just gotten on the train wanted to stay. I considered her for a while as she looked up at me with big blue eyes, shining and wet, like a puppy in the shelter, terrified of rejection and desperate to be adopted.

At the peak of the mountain, just when the train began to even out, you waltzed back in to the car with a champagne flute in one hand and your bag in the other.

I don't know when or where you got back on, must have been a few stations ago when I stopped looking for you. Maybe you were wearing a disguise, who knows what you had been up to while you were gone. I'm not sure how long you were away but it was quite some time. That you had been through something was obvious, a new wrinkle had formed on your brow and you're once confident stride had changed to a cautious stroll. What actually happened out there I don't know. I never asked and I don't want answers.

You looked at me and smiled. It was good to see that smile, like sun on my face on a brisk day. You took a step toward me and then I looked down in my lap at the girl at the same time you did. I looked up. You and your smile were gone.

Everything I had begun to feel for this broken, head banded girl in my lap dried up like a puddle in the dessert. I quietly and gently nudged her awake and told her I had to use the bathroom. She put her head down on my coat and fell back into what ever trance she had been in, eyelids gently fluttering, eyes searching beneath them for what I would never give her.

I dashed up the isle and threw open the door, almost shattering the glass. The conductor glared at me and rolled his eyes as I barged past to the space between the cars.

There you were. Standing on the stairs with your head out the opening. The wind was blowing your perfectly formed curls around your head like a blonde explosion of familiarity. I yelled your name and you dove in to me. My senses erupted, my mind went numb as the train was nearing another station and I inhaled your essence greedily.

We moved to another car. I abandoned my coat with the married girl and never looked back. I hope she found what she was looking for. I never could have been the answer she was so desperately seeking but I know I helped steer her towards it.

You told me you had encountered some other people out there on the rails and they had reminded you of what we had when we first left the station. I never forgot.

The train started to rock and get going again. We were back in the bar car and starting to brown out. We had to get off of this train right ******* now. In a desperate moment we looked at each other and put our hands, together, on the emergency brake cord. I looked in your eyes with your hand on top of mine. You kissed me while yanking down on the cord. Time slowed, the breaks squealed and everything exploded throwing luggage, people and the entire contents of the bar car in to a nondiscriminatory chaos . We got up off the ground, ran to the end of the car, dove off the side in to a soft patch of grass and rolled down a small incline. We watched as the conductor sifted through the mess and interrogated the passengers, trying to ferret out the party responsible for pulling the brake. He spotted us off the side of the tracks and shook his fist while shouting every conceivable obscenity combination.

We laughed, held each other in the grass and kissed deeply.

We watched the train pick up speed and disappear in to the hills as relief spread over me.

You interlaced your fingers in to mine and we both looked out to where the tracks disappeared into the horizon, wondering how far of a walk it was to the next station.

In a land of only rocks and water,A boy is searching or answers.He wants to learn to trust,to learn how to stop drawing lines,to learn how to be happy.Right now the boy is alone,but soon his burden will lighten,with a new friend.

But the boy wants to forget,all of that for a moment.He looks up to see the water,the islands of rock,the open sea in the distance. He sees the sky,mixed with pink and blue,and on the other side,clouds rolling in for the night.

Time has slowed down,the boy is in his own world,one filled with words to write,but none that he can speak.

He almost let out a sigh of dismay,Knowing this stint would be short lived.The common sense in his head seemed to say,"No one could be this lucky, don't have yourself deceived".

His wheels wobbled and shook; squeaked and wailed,Under the collective weight of the two.Screaming threats from worn bearings that ailed,He did not want to appear weak so his legs pummelled on through.

The ease of cycling was only temporaryHe pedalled harder to gain more speed.Then the ground began to ***** gentlyHis lungs felt like bursting as he pounded his iron steed.

The journey uphill had been more laborious than he had expected.All the while, the beauty hadn't uttered a single word.His mind had drifted off even though he was worn and ragged,The thought of emerging as a couple seemed less than absurd.

The crest of the hill was a cool, long anticipated welcome.He could finally ease up on the pedalling.The view from there was nothing short of handsome,The downhill would take charge and he could catch up on his breathing.

The wind met his face and whistled itself tuneless.The bicycle rattled as it rolled down the uneven trail.He felt a sense of flight, there was an air of calmness,Almost had forgotten about the quiet guest on his tail.

At the bottom he thought he should check on his passenger,He looked ahead as he addressed the lady.When he had expected an almost immediate answer,No response came, despite his calls for her repeatedly.

He pedalled with little effort as if there wasn't added weightThe bicycle slowed down to a clearing where it was dim.Fatigue was setting in as the night stretched lateHis curiosity won the battle and got the better of him.

He stopped his bicycle and maintained balance with his feet,He twisted his torso so he could speak to his fare.The moment he did so, his heart had almost ceased to beat,To his horror, he found that the lady was no longer there...

Lace on my thighs and fringe around my neck,more is revealed than the flowing crimson blood.Bleeding deeper and deeper with every slowed breath.

Deeper than the girls I see with their shoulders against the wall,the dream girls with their purple hair and tattered tights.My neck growing saturated with strawberry nightmares, but at least they like my tattoos.

I feel the black cats circling my ankles, cries of hunger and any form of normalcy or stability.It feels familiar, like a hymn from my childhoodthrobbing between my ears.

At an unknown time of night at our cottage in northern Michigan…My younger brother and I heard strange noises coming from the beach again…We looked up at the ceiling and then the window…As the voices from outside, in a lively allegro…Grew softer and louder in repeating crescendos…We skittered out the door and stared in fascination…For what we saw must have been our imagination…

The door closed with a creak as our feet hit the grass…It was at that moment we got a look at the mass…Of stubby foot, hunchback creatures from which the sounds had amassed…

There was about six of them chanting like a choir…They danced and paraded around our burnt out fire…As we looked on, we saw our fire raise…It got brighter as they lifted their hands in waves…As light betook the blue beach night…A crowd of colorfully masked gremlins caught us in their sights!

Their feet slowed to a stop and they quieted down…They stood still as the fire flickered off their weird wooden frowns…One reached out his hand in a come-here motion…They seemed to stand and wait with an encouraging notion…As the fire crackled and the waves tumbled onto the beach…

All I can remember, is for the rest of that summer…My younger brother and I served as the drummers…For that quirky marching band of lake sprites…With which our burnt out fire we’d reignite…At an unknown time of night at our cottage in northern Michigan…

Faces of friends, of people i met earlierare glittering stars on this late evening'sdark blue sky...their smiles are tattooed in my mind...they're hunched, goinglower by the days...slowed down by years.it must be hard and painful...the arching,the drooping of the neck, the curving spine,they endure all, 'til each day's end...they riseeach new dawn...do what they still can do,lest they stagnate in their aging ponds,diminish to a state, where food, pills, orforgotten information are forced on them,......like drugs, injected into the veins

........................these wee hours bring back the years...they have been good...never mind thehard times...there were, there are good ones life is a long, wide stream of changing hues,flowing on and on....my water bears thecolors each new day brings...gray, at timeswith sadness and gloom....other days, blacked by despair...some summers, red, roseate with glee, or green with life and hope...blue, when trust is spilling, and the tranquil sea and sky overwhelm, with a promise of stability..........white, when accepting......the unacceptable...........................the amber grains and i, are alikeripened enough to be pluckedbe pulled out from an existence...the signs are known...shown...yet, we waitfor when it is due to happen...and whilewaiting, the stalks sway, play and dance and enjoy the sun and wind...and i,while i still can...walk, jump, climb hillsand valleys in this mammoth space of land and water.............called life...................the sounds of my days, i still hear,i am a lute, a harp, a cello...playingoff-key.....out of tune at times,my strings are my graying hair, i still can't stop dying the grayi still want to highlight the dark,but, one day, all these will cease...............one night, my face will be in one of those many stars...glittering on a dark blue skysending a smile, to my loved ones......................there is no other way, but forwardall are headed....towards an end...

I was lying Myself in the grass,Asking if the tulip chutes in AnatoliaWere the same sinking green I feel now

Where were we? Love for a thousand spaces and bottling them into skinsWanted to touch and know deeply all beautiful things

No you're not allowed, they don't want to let you inThat way, it's a distant place and means too much to understandThe biological and irrationalCrazed, sweeps gregarity above and within an aether-- like milky foam upon the waves

When I return home from excursions I will be IpanemaThe soft locale, unabashed and known to no soulExcept empty elevators--

The lowly philosopher-king

Maybe then you'll think highly of meThrough the mixed feelingsUnable to handleStraight through the socketRing of fireThen and only then will you realizeThat real life

Is more than just a zone or some localBrewery on a Friday night

And every other Friday night

Ever thereafter--You'll unlock the box of atomic intentionAnd listen deeply to her on the station"Sade and Other Like Hits"

Slowed down for full potential

Letting your cochlea ****** themselves off to the tune of the universeAnd the sound of air moving indiscriminately Will give you All this

Somewhere almost fractal, imbibedDecimated repetitivelyThere is a fragment of my voice, Calling

I washed my loneliness off in the soft pools of your warm bodyIn the rise and fall of the tides of your chestI found redemption in the crash of your sighsAnd the sacred secrets of your tremulous breathing

I sought shelter in the shade of your ******* The hot corners of your hungry mouthIn the small creases at the edge of your eyesThere was solace in the shadows of your fleshThat could hide my brokenness

For the storm of those moments That collected like the splintered beams Of crashed ships on the shoreI was free

And when your breathing slowed, And the doors of your eyelids openedI realized once more the depth of my solitudeOnce more I saw the dirt on my soulThe dust collecting on my walled away heartThat grew old and bitter in its isolation.

how do you apologize for something as intrinsic as the mapped curves of your body, of dips and valleys marked with double **’s that stand straighter and taller than you ever have?

tell my mother that i take medicine to stop the tremors, but my body is still a fault line, still a “it’s her fault line” that cracks open every time that i walk down the street.

sometimes i think about what would have happened if i had worn shorts under my skirt. would an extra layer have slowed you down, forced you to think about the territories your hands were invading like the colonists we used to mock in history class - other times i scrub myself with bleach when i realize i’m Turner-ing the corner.

we were told in our youth it isn’t safe to run with scissors but i feel safer carrying blades between my teeth – the taste of blood keeps his tongue out of my mouth.

I thought you knewOr maybe you do notYour quiet composurePenetrated my thoughtsWe had a momentAnd time slowed downA second of eye contactHas me turned aroundYour smile says it allAnd that glimmer in your eyeMaybe you don’t knowBut if you asked I’d lie

They always said the sky is the limit,But they never said how to get there.

When the twists of life tried to keep me down,i ran away.When they came back for me,i took my bags and ran.The bags slowed me down and yet, i couldn’t leave them behind.

During my escape i planned my journey and met more travelers.Their bags seemed as heavy as mine, but our grips were adamant to the load.Eventually i dared to fly.Flying was easy. My bags, lighter in the air, made me soar higher.

Did i dare fly too high? Did i forget about the bags? Oh mama, no one told me to be careful of flying too high. Now i’m back to running, running for one more breath of pure air.